Finding a Foundation
by arochwen rmen
Summary: A solitary, foreign child recieves a Hogwarts letter, and immediately starts to make wheels turn upon reaching Britain. What is hiding in her past, and why is she all alone in the world? This is the story of a most unusual child.
1. Lost Boy

Paise rolled over and sat up rubbing her eyes, but the world remained a fuzzy gray. The heavy fog was accompanied by a slow drizzle, which must have been falling for some time, because her clothes were once again wet through. At least her bag was mostly dry, since she'd been sleeping on it to insure it's still being there when she awoke. Rising, she peered cautiously through the polluted fog before leaving her alley. She'd slept late today; while the sun was hiding somewhere above the fog, the traffic was already picking up and shops were opening their doors.

She slipped into a nearby coffee shop so as to change her clothes and brush her teeth in the lou. She decided to wear her looking-for-work clothes, which were only slightly faded and had no holes. There. A smallish, freckled boy of eleven stared back at her from the mirror, dark eyes mismatched with strawberry blond hair. Drying the clothes she'd slept in as best she could, she placed them in her worn duffel. There were already enough people in the coffee shop to escape notice, so she curled up in an inconspicuous corner and opened her worn duffel. Hesitantly, she took out a blue baseball cap and a small, leather bound photo album.

There was Vati, a little younger than she was now, with the strawberry blond girl she thought must be his big sister. And here was what looked like a family picture, when he was maybe thirteen. A tall, red-haired father and a blond mother presided stiffly over Vati and the sister from the previous picture, as well as an older brother and sister and a smaller boy. All flaming redheads, except for the one sister with hair like Paise's own. The oldest boy frowned at the youngest, who was making faces at the camera, but the little one pretended not to notice his brother's disapproval. Paise turned the page again. This picture showed Vati at about sixteen with his arm around a girl of the same age. Maybe, she thought, just maybe, this teenage girl was her mother. She had dark eyes, though that was the only familiar trait she could find. Maybe.

The next page showed Vati holding an infant that Paise knew must be herself. The baby brought a tiny fist to her mouth, giving a great yawn as Vati looked on in adoration. He wasn't much older than in the last picture. The rest of the photographs showed both of them or just Paise alone, including one of herself she'd not been aware of at the time it was taken, wherein her eight-year-old self stood on a chair placed on the kitchen table, painting the ceiling into a heavenscape of constellations and planets. The last in the book showed the two of them on their last Christmas together. Standing before a tiny tree, Vati pulled her into a hug, which quickly dissolved into a tickle war. Her picture self was wearing a brand new baseball cap, the same she now held.

Closing the book, she pulled on the cap and stood. Today was the day. A letter had arrived by owl post, offering her a chance at a new life. She still had no idea how they'd even known she existed, but when the offer of a scholarship to an English wizarding school arrived, she'd jumped at the chance. It was an opportunity to leave behind the streets that had been her only home since Vati died, and she was going to take it.

With the duct-taped duffel over her shoulder, she set out for Kings Cross Station.


	2. King's Crossroads

With the duct-taped duffel over her shoulder, she set out for Kings Cross Station. It took little over an hour at a leisurely pace. Once there, she found platforms nine and ten, but nothing lay between but the partition. Well, obviously, she thought to herself, it would be far too obvious, so many wizards congregating in a public muggle place. So there must be some way that only magicals can get through. And she set herself to watch and wait. Being early, Paise had to wait quite some time. As last she saw a man and woman walk directly into the partition and vanish, their three sons following right behind. So that's the trick. A bit nervous at the prospect of walking straight into what appeared to be a solid wall, she tried to distract herself with thoughts of the family she'd just seen. The middle boy had been about her own age; maybe they'd be classmates. And, inadvertently holding her breath, Paise darted at the partition between the two platforms and came out on platform nine and three- quarters. She let out her pent up breath. There were already quite a few people here, making an odd scene in their mixture of robes and mismatched muggle outfits, with a great scarlet steam engine in the background. She didn't realize she was still standing directly in front of the magical entrance to the platform until four redheads her own age burst through the barrier at full speed, laughing gleefully. She spun around just as the first trolley rammed into her, knocking her to the ground. There were two more right behind the first, but the kid on the right shoved against the other's trolley to stop it hitting Paise and went over on top of it, while his own trolley hurtled on without him. The girl in back managed to slow hers down somewhat, but it still hit the boy whose cart had toppled. It all happened in the blink of an eye, and then the first boy who'd hit hear was at her side.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked, concern written across his face, "I'm so sorry- are you hurt?"  
  
Paise shook her head, though in truth her right hip and leg were in serious pain. "No, I shouldn't have stopped there," she responded, voice tight, but that was the only outward sign she gave of the pain as she carefully rolled and pulled her left leg up under her. The boy offered a hand to help her up, and Paise took it. She didn't know if she could have stood without the help. She was turning to the other boy, the one who'd stopped the second trolley from running her over, as the girl spoke with controlled fear in her voice, "Fred, get Virgil's Mum and Dad quick; he's hurt bad."  
  
The last boy responded instantly, heading back through the barrier, and returned a moment later with a man and woman. "He's having trouble breathing," the girl told them as she moved aside. Working efficiently, the man knelt at his son's side and was feeling his ribcage as the woman- another redhead- removed a tiny box from her pocket and grew it to the size of a large trunk. She began rummaging through its contents, pulling out odd things in bottles and strange-looking instruments. Paise was intrigued as the man muttered, "Occulus internia," and pointed his wand at the boy's- Virgil's- chest. The area around the wand tip became transparent, so the bones and organs inside could be seen.  
  
"Two ribs are broken," announced the man, "And one punctured his lung." As he turned and looked to his wife, Paise followed his gaze and was startled to see that she had a little cauldron set up over those fuelless bluebell flames. She paused in grinding something with mortar and pestle to hand the man a bottle from the chest. He then administered the drink to Virgil. "You know better than to all come running through the barrier like that! I expect you to behave more responsibly, especially since you're going away to school now."  
  
"I'm sorry Dad," though his face was still stark white behind his freckles, the tenseness in Virgil's face was noticeably lessened since the draught from the bottle.  
  
"Sir," Paise wanted to step forward, but didn't trust her leg, "Sir, it was because of me. The first trolley knocked me over, and he jumped into the other, to stop it running me over." The three other kids nodded in confirmation, and Paise noticed for the first time that the two boys standing were identical twins. She took a deep breath. Why was she so nervous for these people? She did not need their approval, but she was startled to realize just how much she wanted it.  
  
The man looked down at his son. "You should have said something- that was a fine thing, to do that for the boy." Virgil tried to shrug, then grimaced despite the painkiller he'd just taken. His mother poured the medipotion she'd just been putting together into a mug as his father set the ribs back into their correct places, using his wand. Virgil winced as he did so but made no sound, and then accepted the mug from his mother. About to drink, he broke off suddenly as he smelled its contents, "Mum, you put kandoph in here! I'm going to Hogwarts; I don't want to spend the day sleeping!"  
  
"I'm sorry, m'dear, but you're not going anywhere today. You'll probably be able the day after tomorrow."  
  
"But, Mum!" the boy who'd stood the pain so well seemed now on the verge of tears. "Please Mum? I'll be fine, really. I-" She just shook her head, and he fell silent. Heaving a sigh, he downed the potion and was asleep in seconds. As Virgil's mum gathered his trunk and trolley and his dad floated him horizontally in the air at waist height, Paise took a few careful steps to the side, not allowing the pain to show through to his mediwizard parents.  
  
"He'll be all right?" she asked.  
  
Virgil's dad turned to her, "He'll be fine. Are you alright?" Paise nodded yes. She most certainly couldn't afford mediwizards to heal her leg. Virgil's mum took care of Fred's bruises from where the girl's trolley had hit him, and then they were gone and the crowd of onlookers Paise had hardly noticed was dispersing.  
  
I didn't even get to thank him, she thought 


	3. Of Friends and Enemies or The Power of L...

I didn't even get to thank him, she thought as she went to retrieve her old duffle bag and hat, which had fallen in all the chaos. Each step sent shards of increased pain through her hip. She just set her jaw and concentrated on walking normally.  
  
The platform was now filling with people. Paise made it as far as the train and paused. These few steep steps presented a challenge. She managed by slinging the duffel over her back and half pushing with her arms on the handrail, half jumping with her good leg. The feat did get her some odd looks, but she made it up the steps.  
  
"Are you hurt?" Paise turned. Two boys about her own age and an older girl were coming up the steps behind her.  
  
"I'm fine." The blond boy raised an eyebrow at her, and she reacted defensively, "Just sore; what business is it of yours?"  
  
The blond boy looked as though he were about to speak, but the girl broke in first, "He was just being kind, you'd no call to be so rude about it!"  
  
"Miriam," the boy spoke, "It's fine."  
  
"He's in the wrong."  
  
"I can take care of myself. I don't need you to defend me." The girl sortof humphed and turned away, and Blondie readdressed Paise. "I wasn't trying to pry in your business. Sorry. My name's Jesse Fletcher, what's yours?"  
  
"Paise Weissli." She wanted to apologize, but didn't. She'd learnt that people were less likely to bother you if they thought you had a temper.  
  
"Don't worry about her," he nodded his head in the direction the girl had gone. "Miriam's my sister. She gets kindof defensive sometimes."  
  
"I'm Dantes Cortiza," offered the second boy, "You a first year?" Paise nodded yes. "So's Jesse here. I'm a second year." Eliciting no response, he went on, "Weissli. Are you from Germany?"  
  
"Österreich. I mean, uh—Austria," despite the pain and her uncertainty, Paise was beginning to thaw towards these boys. Together, the two lifted the trunk they'd been carrying onto the train when the conversation started, and maneuvered it down the narrow hallway. You want to come in with us?" asked Jesse as they stopped to open a compartment door. Paise hesitated, and he went on, "Oh, come on. You're welcome here." She followed them in.  
  
Another large trunk to match the one they'd just brought in was already in the compartment, but for that it was empty. Feeling self conscious about her duct taped bag, Paise stuffed it under a seat and glanced out the window.  
  
Gathered just outside on the platform was a mass of people, most of whom had bright red hair. There were far too many to be just one family, and yet their expressions and interaction seemed to name them as just that. Paise turned back to the two boys, hoping for a distraction, but they had moved up to peer out of the window as well. Now the kids were hugging their parents goodbye and moving towards the train.  
  
"There, do you see him?" asked Jesse excitedly.  
  
"No, where?" The two were now right on either side of her, their attention turned outwards. Paise's heart began to thump at their proximity, but she let no outward sign of her fear show through. She knew they meant her no harm, and besides, she could probably take these softies if she needed to. But try as she might, she could only hide her emotions, not conquer them.  
  
"On the left of the group, with his son just leaving—"  
  
"Oh, yeah."  
  
"Who are you guys talking about?" Paise interrupted. She didn't see anyone of note out there.  
  
"Harry Potter!" they said together. "He was practically raised by the Weasleys," said Dantes, indicating the familial crowd without.  
  
"But I thought he went to live with muggle relatives until he came here," she put in skeptically.  
  
"He was, but—oh, just look! Over on the left, there. His son Dallin has red hair, he's a fifth year, and—his daughter's there, too." Paise thought she caught a glimpse of the famous wizard through the crush of people now filling the platform.  
  
Justin laughed slyly, "Dantes fancies Rose Potter!"  
  
"Oh, shut up, you!" Dantes pulled his wand from his pocket and waved it haphazardly at his friend. A blast sent Jesse flying backwards into the floor. Dantes stood frozen where he was, looking stricken, until Jesse let out a moan. Paise and Dantes moved in concernedly.  
  
"Are you okay?" Dantes asked, leaning in over him on the floor. Paise wondered distractedly whether there might be another mediwizard in the press outside, and leaned in as well to see if he was alright.  
  
"Rah!" Jesse yelled and lurched up at them. The two leapt back instinctively, and Paise stumbled and fell. Jesse lay back on the floor again, laughing uncontrollably. "You—should—have—seen—your—faces!" he gasped. Dantes broke into a grin, and his shoulders started to shake with his own laughter. A smile crept across Paise's face, and soon she was chuckling along with the others, fuelled more by Jesse's enjoyment than by the joke itself. All three suddenly ceased as the compartment door slid open. Six older students stood there, four boys and two girls.  
  
"What's so funny, Cortiza?" asked one in scornful tones. Paise looked around at Dantes and was surprised to see fear on his face. Jesse seemed nervous, as well.  
  
"What do you want, Skank?" Dantes addressed the leader. He was probably in sixth or seventh year, fairly tall and thinnish, with hair so dark it was almost black.  
  
"You want to be a bit more respectful of you elders, Cortiza," taking a threatening step into the room, "And what's this? First years—and a Weasley! You ought to know better, consorting with red weasels. You're a disgrace to your House." The ringleader, Skank, gave Dantes a solid kick in the ribs, and turned round to face Paise. One boy stood over Dantes and a girl twisted Jesse's arm behind his back. He let out a little gasp of pain, but Paise didn't allow herself to show concern, not in front of these types.  
  
Backed by three cronies, Skank gave a malicious grin he must have found very effective at intimidation in the past. He spoke, "I'd have thought your clan would be keeping a better watch out for you, little weasel. But then, now those five from last year are finally gone, perhaps we won't have to deal with any more interference from you rodents."  
  
Still sitting on the floor, Paise was all too aware of her disadvantage if it came to blows, but to rise was to reveal her bad leg.  
  
She immediately rejected arguing the point of her family; he had obviously already decided she was a 'Weasley', and it was her experience that no bully really cared whether his excuse was legitimate. Casting about her mind for a course of action, Paise suddenly realized that, for the first time in a very long while, she felt almost like a normal kid again. She began to laugh, for suddenly the figure before her was reduced to a schoolyard bully. And the more she laughed, the harder it became to stop. After facing starvation, loneliness, cold, and some truly frightening people since Vati died two years ago, this boy was supposed to scare her? The still-sharp memory of her loss gave Paise the self-control to stop laughing. The bullies, who at first had appeared so daunting, were reduced, but they were still a threat. Their initial reaction of bewilderment had now been replaced by anger, and Skank pulled out his wand. Paise drew back as though in fear. Her hand touched something just under the seat behind her: her bag. If only she could get her wand out—but no, they wouldn't allow her that.  
  
He raised his wand, and Paise reacted without stopping to think. Even as he swished his wand down she shifted all her weight to her injured leg and hands, reaching out with her left leg. He shifted to take the kick, but it never landed. Instead she turned her foot around his ankle and pulled hard, and he hit the floor. Here she ought to have leapt to her feet and retrieved his wand, but the curse she had hoped would go astray in the attack had indeed found its mark, and she was wriggling on the floor. He had a fast wand, this one. Her muscles spasmed, jerking without her consent. Despite the affects of the curse, she did manage to plant a kick just below the ringleader's knee as he rose. Favoring her with a choice vocabulary, Skank returned the kick several fold. Despite the increased pain in her hip from the jerking and her maneuver to bring him down, she never made a sound until a kick happened to land on her right hip. She screamed.  
  
Startled, the bullies fell back for a moment, and three people appeared at the compartment door. Between the fact that she was still jerking on the floor, and that her vision was graying out, Paise couldn't really tell who they were at first. Turned to face her, the bullies didn't see them there. Skank stepped forward and raised his wand again, but it never descended.  
  
"Expelliarmus!" the spell was followed directly by a small, red headed whirlwind. Skank fought back, tooth and nail. The tiny first year was armed with a wand, but she seemed barely to know how to use it. And Skank was quick. He really wasn't bad at hand fighting, the thought drifted through distractedly as Paise fought to maintain consciousness. Too shocked at first to react, it took a moment before his friends waded in to aid him. At last they had restrained her, for it was a her; the red haired girl who'd come racing through the barrier with Virgil and the twins no so very long ago.  
  
And the other two figures she'd seen—probably the twins—where were they? Skank was positively spitting with rage, though his accomplices were looking nervous.  
  
"Sceptus, we should go," a girl, his last crony not detaining a victim, was tugging his arm, "It wasn't meant to go this far. We should go, before someone else comes."  
  
He turned to her, the unreasoning anger fading from his eyes, and he nodded. "Conjure ropes. Tie them up, so they'll be stuck here calling for help until someone finds them." His gang complied, but before turning to go he set one last spell on the Weasley girl. It was a simple cheering charm, but purposely overdone to the point where she was laughing so hard she could hardly get a breath in edgewise. Last of all, he leant over and slapped the girl full across the face, gave Paise one last vindictive kick to her injured hip, and left the compartment.  
  
Just as she was fading off into oblivion, Paise heard some sort of commotion erupt out in the hallway even as the door was closing behind them. 


	4. Explanations

"I think he's coming around," said a fuzzy voice somewhere above Paise's head. She blinked, and a face came in to focus, bright green eyes worried. She was just trying to decide whether or not she recognized the red-haired boy looking down at her when the pain hit. The twitching curse had left all her muscles exhausted, and she could feel every kick. She'd have bruises to show for this tomorrow. But above all else, her right hip was on fire. A groan escaped before she could suppress it, and the boy's brow furrowed with concern.

"You okay?" he asked.

Paise nodded and pushed herself up into a sitting position, careful not to let the pain show on her face. Besides Green-Eyes, two more older red-haired boys, the twins, and a plump woman had joined Jesse, Dante, the red-haired girl, and Paise in the compartment.

"Are you sure?" asked the woman. Paise nodded again, and the witch went on in an entirely different tone, "Well, young man, you've done a very foolish thing, making an enemy of that boy. Not even at school yet, and already fighting. I'll tell you now, the professors won't look kindly on this sort of behavior."

"It wasn't his fault," protested Jesse, "That boy insulted him, and then cursed Paise when he laughed." She was shocked. Why was he defending her?

"The Skank started it," put in Dante, "He always goes after little guys and Weasleys. He—"

"But I'm _not_ a Weasley!" broke in Paise at last. Her two new friends turned to her in astonishment.

"You're not?" asked Dante confusedly.

"I told you, my name is _Weissli_!" she said exasperatedly, purposely not allowing it to show through how touched she was that they had stood up for her. You were safer if people thought of you as a tough guy.

It was one of the twins that spoke up, "They call us all Weasley, but that's not necessarily all of our's name. Our surname is Johnson, Fred's and mine. Our mum's maiden name is Weasley."

Dante laughed, "Well then, maybe you'll end up in my house after all." To Paise's questioning glance, he explained, "All the Weasleys are in Gryffindor House. I'm in Slytherin."

After a bit more fussing, the plump witch left, leaving the children alone. Paise turned to the red-haired girl who'd come in alone against such odds to help her, without even knowing her first.

"I want to thank you," she said after a moment's hesitation, wondering how to show her gratitude without appearing soft. Most boys her age would be embarrassed to accept a girl's help, but she couldn't be as callous as that. "You are exceptionally brave."

The girl was blushing rose. "I only did what needed to be done," she muttered, looking down rather than meet Paise's eyes.

Paise laughed, "Oh, yes, as in single-handedly attacking six experienced and armed wizards twice your size. Nothing beyond the call of duty!" The girl who had leapt into the fray with such abandon now looked up and gave a shy smile. Paise noted how pale and tired she seemed. The uncontrollable laughter of the cheering charm seemed to have taken a lot out of her. "I'm Paise Weissli," Paise said, extending a hand. The girl took it.

"Becki Weasley." They shook hands.

The other newcomers went around and introduced themselves. The twins were George and Freddie Johnson, the two older boys who'd come with Green-Eyes were Tylor and Jared Weasley, and Green-Eyes himself was Dallin Potter. The three of them were maybe fourteen or fifteen years old.

"So, what's that boy—Skank—got against you guys?" she asked, purposely breaking eye contact with Dallin.

"It was their brothers, really," said Tylor, indicating the twins, "and my brother Shawn, and Gwen. This past year was their last. They always kindof did their own thing, whether it was against the rules or not, but they never hurt anyone."

"Right from the start, The Skank—Sceptus Skanchy—would go after anyone smaller than him," continued Jared, "Those five were a year older and were always catching him at it, stopping his _fun_. It turned into a feud between his group and them, and then against all of us Weasleys. At least it's his last year, though."

After a moment's pause, Paise addressed the twins. "Wait, I missed something, exactly _how many_ of your brothers graduated last year?" Everyone laughed, including the twins.

"Three," answered one.

"Jason, Joseph, and Joshua," said the other.

"They're identical triplets," said the first.

A stab of jealousy took Paise by surprise. These boys always had each other, as well as a large family and a huge extended family watching out for them. She forced the sentiment down, looking away. She could not resent their happiness, and she'd done just fine on her own, hadn't she? But then, she wasn't alone just now, was she? Looking around at the faces surrounding her, she was shocked to find tears welling up—a result of pain and exhaustion, it must have been. Taking a deep breath, Paise forced her reaction down. Eleven-year-old boys did _not_ cry in public.

"Well, thank you all," she said. What else was there to say? She was so tired, and in so much pain, and she couldn't even get up off the floor and find someplace to be alone, because they'd see she wasn't really okay if she moved to rise.

"Who wants to play Exploding Snap?" asked Tylor, bringing a set of cards out of his pocket.

"How?" asked Paise, mustering some enthusiasm from she knew not where.

"You don't know Exploding Snap?" said Jared incredulously, "Are you muggle-born, or what?"

"No, from Austria." Jared looked sheepish, and Tylor began to explain.


End file.
